University of Antananarivo

Key facts

Checked against the sources listed at the bottom of this page on 10 November 2026.

About the University of Antananarivo

The university presents itself as the heart of higher education in Madagascar, on the historic hill of Ankatso, and says it has trained the country’s leaders for more than 60 years.^[2] Its home page carries the line “Depuis 1961”, and in January 2026 it held the ceremony for its 65th anniversary at the Ankatso campus.^[1][9] It is governed by Decree 565-2002.^[2]

The IAU database gives a longer lineage: a School of Medicine from 1896, a School of Law from 1941, the Institut des Hautes Études in 1955, the Université de Madagascar in 1960 and independent university status in 1988.^[5] English Wikipedia dates the Institute to 16 December 1955 and the name University of Madagascar to 1961, and says the university later opened branches in Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Toamasina, Toliara and Mahajanga.^[10] Those branches are today separate universities; see the University of Fianarantsoa, the University of Toamasina and the University of Mahajanga.

The Ministry of Higher Education lists the university first among its public universities and names Professor Rivoarison Randrianasolo as president.^[11] The IAU database gives the same name, with the start date March 2025.^[5]

How is the University of Antananarivo ranked?

We could not confirm a place in the QS World University Rankings 2027, published on 18 June 2026. We read all 31 pages of the aggregator xuanxiao.org’s copy of the table (ranks 1 to 1,504) and found no institution in Madagascar.^[4] QS’s own pages block automated access, so this is not proof from QS itself.

The web ranking uniRank (page undated, copyright 2005 to 2026) places the university 1st in Madagascar and 7,128th in the world.^[12] That ranking is built from web-presence signals, so treat it as a rough indicator only. How we compile rankings.

What can you study at the University of Antananarivo?

The university’s “Formations” page lists five faculties and five schools and institutes:^[7]

• Faculty of Law and Political Science (DSP)
• Faculty of Economics, Management and Sociology (EGS)
• Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FLSH): languages, communication, history, geography and the human sciences
• Faculty of Sciences
• Faculty of Medicine
• École Supérieure Polytechnique d’Antananarivo (ESPA): engineering
• École Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques (ESSA): agronomy, environment and rural development
• École Normale Supérieure (ENS): teacher training
• Two regional higher-education institutes, listed as Antsirabe (Vakinankaratra) and Soavinandriana.

The home page counts nine institutions and the directory ten, and the home page names the regional institute as Tsiroanomandidy instead; in May 2026 the university announced the official start of an annex in the Bongolava region at Tsiroanomandidy.^[1] Ask the university which regional site your programme uses.

The IAU database also lists research units attached to the university, among them the Institute of Mines, Geology and Petroleum, the Geophysical Observatory (IOGA), a Confucius Institute and the Charles Mérieux Infectiology Centre, and gives the degrees as licence, master, doctorate and the doctor of medicine and doctor of veterinary medicine diplomas.^[5] We did not read programme-level pages for each faculty; the faculty sub-sites named on the university’s directory did not load for us.

How much does the University of Antananarivo cost?

We found no official tuition or registration schedule for the University of Antananarivo, for Malagasy or for foreign students. The pages we could read state no amounts.^[2][7]

What we can say from sources: an expatriate guide (last updated in 2015) says that pre-registration at public universities is generally paid, that the amount varies by faculty and programme, and that enrolment fees are higher for foreign students.^[8] A 2025 L’Express article quotes a student who calls public universities “free”, which does not match that guide.^[3] We cannot resolve the difference, so ask the university’s registrar for the current amounts in Malagasy ariary before you plan a budget.

For living costs see our Madagascar guide.

How do you apply to the University of Antananarivo?

• Bachelor’s level: the IAU database gives the baccalauréat or an equivalent plus an entrance examination as the admission requirement.^[5] The 2015 expatriate guide describes a merit-based selection by the grade and mention of the baccalauréat, open to foreign students in public universities, with a pre-registration form, a recent photo, a certified copy of the baccalauréat transcript, a birth certificate issued less than three months earlier and a certified copy of the passport.^[8] It is an old guide, so check the list with the university.
• École Normale Supérieure: the university’s agenda lists an entrance contest for the ENS dated 3 August 2026, so this school selects by its own contest.^[1]
• Master’s and doctorate: we found no admission page for these levels.

Contact the university at the Ambohitsaina campus, BP 566, Antananarivo 101, on +261 20 22 326 39 (Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 16:00).^[6] We give no deadlines here because they change every year and differ by programme.

Which language level do you need?

The IAU database gives French and Malagasy as languages of the university,^[5] and the university’s website is in French.^[1] We found no published language test or level requirement. If you apply from abroad, ask the programme whether proof of French is needed and in which form.

More about studying in Madagascar

• Madagascar: best universities
• Cost of Studying Abroad
• International Student Scholarships
• University Ranking Methodology

More university profiles in Madagascar

• University of Fianarantsoa
• University of Mahajanga
• University of Toamasina